Best Fantasy Football Magazine? (2 Viewers)

[vasco75]

Greetings fellow shark poolers...

Going overseas for a couple of weeks and will not have any internet access.

Would like to bring a Football mag for some reading in preparation for the upcoming season.

What is the best mag in print right now that is available at newsstands/bookstores?

Any input would be appreciated...

 

[Garts]

usually pretty easy for me...Fantasy Football Index

Doesn't come out for a few weeks though, I think.

Not a lot of number predictions, but easily the best write-ups and they will stick their necks out and not sit on the fence.

 

[Da Man]

FF Index definately the best read...their predictions were pretty lousy last year though. I have had my copy for a week and ordered by mail. Not sure if it is at the newstands yet.

 

[Sweet Love]

FF Index definately the best read...their predictions were pretty lousy last year though. I have had my copy for a week and ordered by mail. Not sure if it is at the newstands yet.

Yeah, I like the magazine itself, but they always throw a wild-pitch prediction in there. One year it was like Derrick Mayes, another Tatum Bell; I do remember (and this is 10+ years ago) that they admitted that they are Seattle homers (I believe that is where their offices are), so if you see ranking that looks out of place and it is a Seattle player, that would be a good one to skip.

 

[Sweet Love]

I'd also throw in that the ESPN magazine is in a couple of ways. It is not insightful (which is why I come here), but their positional projections and player write-ups go very deep (for WRs, it is like 120 players). Now, towards the end, many of those are snarky writeups, but it is not a bad tool to keep reading over when on the pot or in bed.

 

[Garts]

FF Index definately the best read...their predictions were pretty lousy last year though. I have had my copy for a week and ordered by mail. Not sure if it is at the newstands yet.

Yeah, I like the magazine itself, but they always throw a wild-pitch prediction in there. One year it was like Derrick Mayes, another Tatum Bell; I do remember (and this is 10+ years ago) that they admitted that they are Seattle homers (I believe that is where their offices are), so if you see ranking that looks out of place and it is a Seattle player, that would be a good one to skip.

yeah they swing for the fences but great team capsule write-ups.

 

[GridironMenace]

Yup. Fantasy Football Index is the best mag by far. Doesn't come out until July 9th (or thereabouts).

I think it would be wise for Footballguys to get some sort of partnership with those that produce Fantasy Football Index. I think both FBG and FFI could make money as there are a lot FBG people that don't know about that magazine that would buy one at an FBG member price. And there are a lot of guys who read FFI but don't know about FBG that would then sign up and become a member. Some sort of exclusive advertising within the mag would also be a plus. *Just thinking outloud*

 

[Black]

Wow, $7.99 including mailing first class if ordered on the site. Pretty good deal.

I like having something in print to research/highlight or just quickly search for number of catches last year, etc.

Going to miss the FBG mag.

 

[Keith R]

I like FFPF but I don't think it's out either.

Of those I've seen out, Sporting News is the only one I've considered buying (but didn't).

 

[odin09]

I have to agree that the Fantasy Football Index is a very good magazine. Even though it gets worse each year I always pick up the Fanball magazine, if nothing else it is an entertaining read. The ESPN magazine is a travesty that thankfully only stole my money once. It is almost as bad as the regular ESPN magazine! The shame is that the Footballguys magazine was by far the best but they have given up on it. Last year it was about an inch thick being that I had to print out my own copy but it was still a great read! I wish that they would put a little less time into iphone apps that only benefit a handful of people and site redesigns which set the site backwards and start the magazine up again! EVEN IF I HAVE TO PRINT IT MYSELF! Oh, well... good luck finding a magazine that works for you.

Greetings fellow shark poolers...Going overseas for a couple of weeks and will not have any internet access.Would like to bring a Football mag for some reading in preparation for the upcoming season.What is the best mag in print right now that is available at newsstands/bookstores?Any input would be appreciated...

 

[Joe T]

I have to agree that the Fantasy Football Index is a very good magazine. Even though it gets worse each year I always pick up the Fanball magazine, if nothing else it is an entertaining read. The ESPN magazine is a travesty that thankfully only stole my money once. It is almost as bad as the regular ESPN magazine! The shame is that the Footballguys magazine was by far the best but they have given up on it. Last year it was about an inch thick being that I had to print out my own copy but it was still a great read! I wish that they would put a little less time into iphone apps that only benefit a handful of people and site redesigns which set the site backwards and start the magazine up again! EVEN IF I HAVE TO PRINT IT MYSELF! Oh, well... good luck finding a magazine that works for you.

Greetings fellow shark poolers...Going overseas for a couple of weeks and will not have any internet access.Would like to bring a Football mag for some reading in preparation for the upcoming season.What is the best mag in print right now that is available at newsstands/bookstores?Any input would be appreciated...

lolreading Phil Steel's College Football preview right now and it is FANTASTIC.

 

[Hooper31]

FF Index definately the best read...their predictions were pretty lousy last year though. I have had my copy for a week and ordered by mail. Not sure if it is at the newstands yet.

Yeah, I like the magazine itself, but they always throw a wild-pitch prediction in there. One year it was like Derrick Mayes, another Tatum Bell; I do remember (and this is 10+ years ago) that they admitted that they are Seattle homers (I believe that is where their offices are), so if you see ranking that looks out of place and it is a Seattle player, that would be a good one to skip.

Rod Smith as the #4 WR was the one that sticks in my head as being a big bogus.

 

[J-Dawg]

I always get the Fanball magazine. Actually ordered the 5 pack they've got advertised on their site for the first time ever so we'll see how the other mags are. That said, I usually don't use magazine info as much as I did when I first started to play, mostly because a lot of the info is out-of-date by the time you get it off the shelf. But, they're still fun to read and hear more opinions on certain players, but I use the internet a lot more for actual research and analysis.

 

[Hagger]

I like ESPN for the depth of their rankings and they do a fairly good job and giving you a heads up on players who are rising or falling. I also usually like Profootball Weekly. Their player write-ups give you a nice balance on the pros and cons of each player.

 

[Tanner9919]

FF Index is by far the best read out there..I picked up Rotoworld's Fantasy football magazine last season, and I could not believe how poorly written it was, rife with misspelled words and bad information I was amazed that they had the nerve to charge $7.99 for it..

 

[Andrew Garda]

I have to agree that the Fantasy Football Index is a very good magazine. Even though it gets worse each year I always pick up the Fanball magazine, if nothing else it is an entertaining read. The ESPN magazine is a travesty that thankfully only stole my money once. It is almost as bad as the regular ESPN magazine! The shame is that the Footballguys magazine was by far the best but they have given up on it. Last year it was about an inch thick being that I had to print out my own copy but it was still a great read! I wish that they would put a little less time into iphone apps that only benefit a handful of people and site redesigns which set the site backwards and start the magazine up again! EVEN IF I HAVE TO PRINT IT MYSELF! Oh, well... good luck finding a magazine that works for you.

Greetings fellow shark poolers...Going overseas for a couple of weeks and will not have any internet access.Would like to bring a Football mag for some reading in preparation for the upcoming season.What is the best mag in print right now that is available at newsstands/bookstores?Any input would be appreciated...

lolreading Phil Steel's College Football preview right now and it is FANTASTIC.

If you're going on a trip and can secure this you won't want for stuff to read.It's

 

[Bcubed2355]

If you are playing in IDP leagues Fantasy Index is useless. Doesn't cover it (or hasn't up to last year's)

I actually find FI a big advertisement for the there over priced site and find it rather shallow but if are playing in small league and draft 15-20 player its find.

However, I find league are won on knowing who might be solid fantasy prospect after the top 25-50 ranked players are off the board. These guys are your bye week and injury replacement your not going to get that in FI.

The two magazine that cover Fantasy Football and IDP Fantasy football with enough depth to be of value all season are The Sporting News fantasy Guide and Fanball's Mag. Best that I have seen at the stands so far this year.

 

[mdlane]

Rotoworld's magazine is the only one I will buy. There is nothing out there remotely comparable to Gregg Rosenthal's tier based drafting write ups, and Rosenthal is just a good read overall. Unfortunately the other writers are not the same level of quality and insight as Rosenthal (I swear, I would trust Y!'s inane Brad Evans before RW's Adam Levitan), but I have to admit that, having read Wesseling's posts on this forum, I am curiousto see what his contributions this year's mag will be (wesseling seems to project more authority and insight here than in his "official" writings IMHO - if you read this, Chris, you really need a section where you trash one of RW's top 10 picks, and pump one of your under the radar top finisher picks). The other problem with RW's mag is that it duplicates RW's online content word for word, and much of the information (e.g., tiers) is made available by RW for free (great for us FF players, but odd since Rosenthal's tier writeups are one of the highlights of RW's content).

Overall, though, the best parts outweigh the worst, and again, it's the only mag I'd buy from a usefulness standpoint.

 

[Chaka]

Another vote for FF Index.

 

[Lord Fantasy]

Not to gloat but I ordered online and my Fantasy Football Index showed up a week ago.

As has been mentioned, one of the great things about the mag are the team reports. I personally love their statistical recap of the previous season. No targets, but passing attempts/completions, rushes, YPC. Also a nice bit where they compare vs. opponents to give you a sense of where they fit in the context of the league.

As for the predictions: they have Jermichael Finley as the #1 TE this year, which will either please you or frustrate you. But either way you have to appreciate their taking a stand.

Have a fine trip.

 

[Sweet Love]

Not to gloat but I ordered online and my Fantasy Football Index showed up a week ago.

As has been mentioned, one of the great things about the mag are the team reports. I personally love their statistical recap of the previous season. No targets, but passing attempts/completions, rushes, YPC. Also a nice bit where they compare vs. opponents to give you a sense of where they fit in the context of the league.

As for the predictions: they have Jermichael Finley as the #1 TE this year, which will either please you or frustrate you. But either way you have to appreciate their taking a stand.

Have a fine trip.

I used to think this way, but it is a Catch-22. If they bomb, which they usually do on these types of picks, "we" tend to applaud them for wearing their heart on their chest...if they hit it (which I can't remember their doing on one of these "outside-the-box" picks), there will be a parade in honor of their unique insight and bravado. With that said, I project Brian Robiskie for a top 10 PPR finish...get ready to crown my can.

 

[the turnip]

I miss the days when Fanball's mag was not only decent for projections and stats but was also laugh out loud funny. Years ago they had a player synopsis on Najeh Davenport and managed to squeeze in four or five poop references in only a paragraph or two. Highbrow no, but it was hilarious. Kind of like watching an old episode of MST3K. (Crooooooooooooooooooow!)

They've been sold once or twice and in my opinion they have went seriously downhill. The softcore porn ads on their league management website last year was the final straw for me. They'll never get another dime of my money.

One more vote for Fantasy Football Index I guess.

 

[Lord Fantasy]

Not to gloat but I ordered online and my Fantasy Football Index showed up a week ago.

As has been mentioned, one of the great things about the mag are the team reports. I personally love their statistical recap of the previous season. No targets, but passing attempts/completions, rushes, YPC. Also a nice bit where they compare vs. opponents to give you a sense of where they fit in the context of the league.

As for the predictions: they have Jermichael Finley as the #1 TE this year, which will either please you or frustrate you. But either way you have to appreciate their taking a stand.

Have a fine trip.

I used to think this way, but it is a Catch-22. If they bomb, which they usually do on these types of picks, "we" tend to applaud them for wearing their heart on their chest...if they hit it (which I can't remember their doing on one of these "outside-the-box" picks), there will be a parade in honor of their unique insight and bravado. With that said, I project Brian Robiskie for a top 10 PPR finish...get ready to crown my can.

I hear you, Sweet Love, but I could give two hoots about whether they are right or wrong. Like Bloom says, it's all about the story you're trying to tell with your predictions. For me I appreciate a bold take because of the story it tells underneath it. Otherwise we'd have nothing to argue about (in July!).As for your Robiskie pick, I'll go you one further: Zach Miller (OAK) will catch 1,000 yards and double-digit touchdowns.

See you at the hat shop . . . . .

 

[Sylira21]

FFI, definitely. Ian Allen is always a good read, and they really set the standard, along with the old Charpentier's Guide (I think I spelled that right?)

Yeah, they blow some picks. But they explain WHY they have the off-the-wall picks, and it is interesting and useful analysis. And as mentioned before, the team write-ups are the best by far that I have seen.

What I don't want is some rag that merely repeats the early ADP as their picks. That's worthless.

Oh, and definitely agree about Fanball (and the Mystery Science Theater reference! 'Hands of Manos' for the win!). It used to be inventively funny back when Charchian ran it. Now it is not very helpful, and not very funny.

 

[belljr]

FFI is the best for early info. The last 2 years I have been only getting the internet updates, but it's been a tradition as that is the first mag I bought and "learned" fanatasy football with back in 1993 or 94 and I bought their magazine every year until a couple years ago.

I actually really enjoy their training camp updates. yes I spend the 15 bucks to get the camp updates

 

[Sweet Love]

Not to gloat but I ordered online and my Fantasy Football Index showed up a week ago.

As has been mentioned, one of the great things about the mag are the team reports. I personally love their statistical recap of the previous season. No targets, but passing attempts/completions, rushes, YPC. Also a nice bit where they compare vs. opponents to give you a sense of where they fit in the context of the league.

As for the predictions: they have Jermichael Finley as the #1 TE this year, which will either please you or frustrate you. But either way you have to appreciate their taking a stand.

Have a fine trip.

I used to think this way, but it is a Catch-22. If they bomb, which they usually do on these types of picks, "we" tend to applaud them for wearing their heart on their chest...if they hit it (which I can't remember their doing on one of these "outside-the-box" picks), there will be a parade in honor of their unique insight and bravado. With that said, I project Brian Robiskie for a top 10 PPR finish...get ready to crown my can.

I hear you, Sweet Love, but I could give two hoots about whether they are right or wrong. Like Bloom says, it's all about the story you're trying to tell with your predictions. For me I appreciate a bold take because of the story it tells underneath it. Otherwise we'd have nothing to argue about (in July!).As for your Robiskie pick, I'll go you one further: Zach Miller (OAK) will catch 1,000 yards and double-digit touchdowns.

See you at the hat shop . . . . .

I get your point about the write-ups and agree with you...the only disappointing thing about it is the fact that they do not go very deep in the number of players reviewed. Looking at my '09 edition of FFI, they only go 40 deep in WRs. ESPN, on the other hand, goes 140 deep. Now after 80 or so reviews, about half of them are silly descriptions, but Miles Austin finished as a top 5 receiver (roughly) and there is nere mention of him except a blurb in the team section. ESPN provided a couple of sentence write-up and listed him as a sleeper.

 

[Kenny Powers]

I bought one, I think it was Athlon Sports a couple weeks ago. Havent read it yet and I only had 2 options to pick from, but it looked decent.

 

[Montana16]

fantasy football index is only 6.99 on newstands.

 

[rocketsauce]

I lifted my self-imposed offseason embargo (July 1 Baby!) and picked up my first magazine today. I wanted Fantasy Index, but it wasn't at my local store, so I went with Fanball. I think the last 3 years I've purchased both Fanball's and Fantasy Index. I don't "need" either, but I enjoy reading them, giving myself some alternate ideas that I hadn't thought about, and just generally enjoying my time on the can

And yes, Fanball used to be GREAT. I think the only reason I continue buying it is that I hope that one of these times it will return to that. Although to be fair it was really just a truckload of Anchorman and The Office references...but damn if that stuff doesn't make me laugh.

So yeah, Fanball for me now. Their capsules look very cool this year, even if I haven't got to them yet. I'll read it cover to cover, and then grab Fantasy Index if there is still time before my Draft in late August.

 

[Bill Haverchuck]

I get Fanball and Pro Football Weekly's.

I used to get the FBG mag. Loved it.

 

[Deranged Hermit]

Picked up Yahoo's last night while at the 7-11 and it's been a pretty good read.

 

[agrich]

I get your point about the write-ups and agree with you...the only disappointing thing about it is the fact that they do not go very deep in the number of players reviewed. Looking at my '09 edition of FFI, they only go 40 deep in WRs. ESPN, on the other hand, goes 140 deep. Now after 80 or so reviews, about half of them are silly descriptions, but Miles Austin finished as a top 5 receiver (roughly) and there is nere mention of him except a blurb in the team section. ESPN provided a couple of sentence write-up and listed him as a sleeper.

Well, in the Dallas team section, they say of Austin, "Miles Austin is the most intriguing receiver on the roster. He's huge, and he showed considerable potential in brief playing time last year, with 5 catches over 20 yards. With Owens gone, the Cowboys need a receiver who can run those deep routes, and Austin could fill that void. He may even start at some point."I doubt ESPN's couple of sentences was any more informative.

Not a lot of number predictions, but easily the best write-ups and they will stick their necks out and not sit on the fence.

From their website, you can download full stat projections for more than 200 players, for free.

FF Index definately the best read...their predictions were pretty lousy last year though.

No one was higher than Index on Ray Rice last year. Cedric Benson or Brent Celek either. If you used their rankings it would have been hard not to have those players on your team. They missed on some (Anthony Gonzalez, for example), but they were also down on guys who flopped like Matt Cassel, Roy Williams and some others. It was a decent year.

If you are playing in IDP leagues Fantasy Index is useless. Doesn't cover it (or hasn't up to last year's).

This is not true. They've had a 200-player deep IDP cheat sheet in the magazine since at least 2002, and then a paragraph for each team highlighting the top handful of players from each defense for just as long.

 

[Routilla]

The Index is supposed to be on sale at B&N and Borders as of the 1st but it's not in the B&N in Aurora, CO. A little chapped I am.

 

[HenryMuto]

The Index is supposed to be on sale at B&N and Borders as of the 1st but it's not in the B&N in Aurora, CO. A little chapped I am.

I picked up my copy of the Index today and while they have been my favorite magazine for 16 years now they always have those off the wall head scratching rankings.Like this year Matt Ryan #3 ranked keeper QB while Rodgers #5.Probably won't see that happening anytime soon in any start up dynasty drafts or trades straight up Ryan for Rodgers.

 

[HenryMuto]

FF Index definately the best read...their predictions were pretty lousy last year though.

No one was higher than Index on Ray Rice last year. Cedric Benson or Brent Celek either. If you used their rankings it would have been hard not to have those players on your team. They missed on some (Anthony Gonzalez, for example), but they were also down on guys who flopped like Matt Cassel, Roy Williams and some others. It was a decent year.

Check out last year's keeper rankings. Slaton #6, Ray Rice #17. YouchThey have had some pretty lousy calls. Pick up the 1998 bookDon't make the error of thinking that Moss fell to the 21st slot in thedraft only because of his well-chronicled off-field problems. Numerousteams dropped Moss on their draft boards because they simply don't thinkhe'll be a good player.They likely will be right.Count Jimmy Johnson among the Moss skeptics. He bristled when Dolphin fanssecond-guessed him for trading away the 19th pick and a chance at Moss.Johnson says he never had an interest in Moss, even at the 29th slot. "Iwant to talk to people who say Moss is going to be a great player", Johnsonsays, "and I'd ask them how many films of him they broke down. I would askthem how many times they watched him play. The answer I normally get is,they saw a couple of film clips of him on TV, and that's how they formedtheir opinion. And these people know more than people in the NFL who spendour entire lives doing this stuff ?"Moss' play in the Motor City Bowl was disturbing. He scored an 80 yard TDagainst a blown coverage on the first play, but the wasn't even a factor -taken out of the game by a pair of mediocore 5'9" cornerbacks who willneverbe invited to NFL training camps. Now he is going to take the NFL by storm? Moss may go down as this year's version of Rocket Ismail or DesmondHoward.Don't look at Moss' 53 TD's in his final 2 years at Marshall and assume heis going to catch 10 TD's.Moss won't do much this season. Expect about 35 catches and 4 TD's.Moss had 1300 yards and 17 TD's as a rookieThe magazine had to take out a full page in 1999 just to say they werewrong or as they put it "Maybe we were wruh...wruh...wruh....about RandyMoss"Then in 2007 they did the same thing to Moss "don't think your going to get the Moss of old"...23 TD's later........Don't forget that Tatem Bell fiacole as well they put him on the cover had him rated like #4 overall and he tanked horribly bad.

 

[jurb26]

FF Index definately the best read...their predictions were pretty lousy last year though.

No one was higher than Index on Ray Rice last year. Cedric Benson or Brent Celek either. If you used their rankings it would have been hard not to have those players on your team. They missed on some (Anthony Gonzalez, for example), but they were also down on guys who flopped like Matt Cassel, Roy Williams and some others. It was a decent year.

Check out last year's keeper rankings. Slaton #6, Ray Rice #17. YouchThey have had some pretty lousy calls. Pick up the 1998 bookDon't make the error of thinking that Moss fell to the 21st slot in thedraft only because of his well-chronicled off-field problems. Numerousteams dropped Moss on their draft boards because they simply don't thinkhe'll be a good player.They likely will be right.Count Jimmy Johnson among the Moss skeptics. He bristled when Dolphin fanssecond-guessed him for trading away the 19th pick and a chance at Moss.Johnson says he never had an interest in Moss, even at the 29th slot. "Iwant to talk to people who say Moss is going to be a great player", Johnsonsays, "and I'd ask them how many films of him they broke down. I would askthem how many times they watched him play. The answer I normally get is,they saw a couple of film clips of him on TV, and that's how they formedtheir opinion. And these people know more than people in the NFL who spendour entire lives doing this stuff ?"Moss' play in the Motor City Bowl was disturbing. He scored an 80 yard TDagainst a blown coverage on the first play, but the wasn't even a factor -taken out of the game by a pair of mediocore 5'9" cornerbacks who willneverbe invited to NFL training camps. Now he is going to take the NFL by storm? Moss may go down as this year's version of Rocket Ismail or DesmondHoward.Don't look at Moss' 53 TD's in his final 2 years at Marshall and assume heis going to catch 10 TD's.Moss won't do much this season. Expect about 35 catches and 4 TD's.Moss had 1300 yards and 17 TD's as a rookieThe magazine had to take out a full page in 1999 just to say they werewrong or as they put it "Maybe we were wruh...wruh...wruh....about RandyMoss"Then in 2007 they did the same thing to Moss "don't think your going to get the Moss of old"...23 TD's later........Don't forget that Tatem Bell fiacole as well they put him on the cover had him rated like #4 overall and he tanked horribly bad.

FFI has been notably bad for a long time IMO. I really don't know why so many here like it? Maybe because it's thick and provides a lot of reading material. If you read through all their fluff however, you will simply walk away confused by all the contradictions. Their rankings are poor at best and they seem to care more about shock factor than anything else. For a mag as thick as FFI is you would think they would be able to go far deeper into the rankings by ranking more players as well. Not nearly enough players are covered.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

The only mag I buy anymore is Phil Steele and that is mainly to catch up on recruits, who is starting now, in college I don't know the depth charts up thru WR8 for all 110+ I-A schools I'm sad to say so this gives a very detailed look at it. Makes the college season a lot more interesting.

Aside from that I skip everything else. Used to read FFI like many others in here but now I won't even buy that one. It's a waste of time IMO.

 

[agrich]

Check out last year's keeper rankings. Slaton #6, Ray Rice #17. Youch

Given the two players' rookie seasons, what would you expect? You'd have a very difficult time finding anyone ranking Rice higher than that in May 2009, keeper or redraft formats, while Slaton was certainly a top-10 player everywhere given his breakout rookie campaign. Lots of other mags were still telling people to draft LeRon McClain; Index was earlier than anyone projecting Rice as the starter. Again, using their rankings he was probably on your team last year. The Tatum Bell miss is infamous, but they were going on the idea that he'd be Denver's starting running back. Instead Denver somewhat surprisingly went with a tandem with Mike Anderson. The magazine came out in June; their guess was wrong. You're right, they missed on Moss too. Like at least two thirds of NFL GMs.Anyway, yeah, they've made some mistakes, like every other publication, but they're still the best mag out there.

 

[Routilla]

Picked one up at Border's this morning.